West Family Investments Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,108 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,108 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $200.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.65. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $155.59 and a 52 week high of $209.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $53.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Allstate Company Profile

The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. It operates in five segments: Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; Run-off Property-Liability; and Corporate and Other segments.